Psychopaths
by jokergirl2001
Summary: Everyone know about how Hidan slaughtered his neighbors before heading off to join the Akatsuki. What most didn't know was that just like Itachi Uchiha, Hidan had someone he just couldn't kill. A little girl who was founded and taken in by the Village Hidden in the Leaves. A girl who would be placed on Team Seven. A girl named Sakura Haruno.
1. Masks and Massacres

Hidan scowled as he walked through his neighbourhood.

People were walking around, all smiles and cheerful as they shopped or made their way back home. They acted as if Yugakure had been a peaceful village for a long time, pretending to be ignorant to the fact that just four years ago they were a hidden village.

It was all the daimyo of the Land of Hot Water's fault for turning the village into a touristing spot. A village once led by ninjas, was now led by mindless civilians. No one took Yugakure's ninjas seriously anymore, and why should they? In Yugakure they might as well call ninjas errand boys/girls instead of shinobi.

It practically made Hidan's blood boil in anger.

Unlike everyone else around him he loved killing. He loved slaughtering people. He loved the taste of metalic blood on his tongue. He _relished_ in carnage. It wouldn't be a stretch to say that killing others was a joy for him. It was like playing with toys. He knew people would describe him as a 'madman' because of his love for destruction and his violent tendencies.

Not only did he love killing others, but he also enjoyed seeing the expression of pain on their faces, their screams of pain, and watching them pathetically try to survive. It practically turned him on. He was a sadist at heart after he was a masochist as well. He enjoyed being hurt as well.

Basically he was fucked up and proud of it.

 _'If she doesn't have what I asked for, I will fucking kill her myself along with everyone else in this pathetic neighbourhood.'_ He thought to himself coming to a stop in front of one of the many houses in the neighbourhood.

He knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" A high-pitched voice asked.

"Open the fucking door." He ordered.

"Hidan?"

The door went open to reveal a petite little girl, roughly around the age of five. She had pink hair _(Fucking weird)_ and green eyes. She was wearing a simple light pink kimono.

Hidan walked in without saying anything. He heard the door close behind him.

"I told you a thousand times, don't swear."

"Shut the fuck up. I can do whatever the fuck I fucking want Sakura." Hidan scowled at the girl who crossed her arms.

She scowled back at him. "I swear, one day I'll kill you myself."

Hidan smirked knowing it wasn't true. Just like him, Sakura was fucked up in the head. She also enjoyed seeing others suffer, and in turn enjoyed it when others made her suffer. Unlike him, she liked pretending to be normal.

"I fucking dare you."

"I said stop swearing, you piece of shit!" Sakura shot back before cursing loudly. "See what you made me do?!" She groaned.

"I don't give a fuck." Hidan said in amusement flicking Sakura's forehead. "You have a fucking big forehead, you know? It's so fucking big."

Sakura flushed.

Hidan knew that anyone else would think that it was because she felt embarrassed, but he knew the truth. She was enjoying his verbal abuse.

"And your hair," He continued knowing that Sakura was more reasonable when she had her fair share of verbal abuse. "It's so fucking weird. You're probably a bastard child, ain't you? You don't look like your parents at all. In fact you look fucking dumb. And those eyes of yours, they look like green shit."

Sakura bit her lips. Hidan knew he was almost there, just a little more push.

"I bet no one gives a fuck about you, do they? You're a fucking weirdo after all. Who enjoys people talking them down anyways?" Hidan was a masochist himself, but he didn't enjoy verbal abuse, he prefered the physical kind.

Sakura smiled.

"Now, where the hell is those things I asked you for?" Hidan asked.

Sakura looked at him for a moment before leading him to her room. On top of her bed lay a few books.

"Those were all the books I could find regarding that deity you're interested in." Sakura informed.

Hidan nodded approaching her bed. Indeed all the books had something to do with Jashin, Jashinism, and temples dedicated to Jashin.

"What do you think?" Hidan asked knowing that Sakura had probably read the books already.

"It's an interesting concept. I mean, Jashinism tells you to go sacrifice people to Jashin, and Jashin will grant you immortality. But, Jashin only grants immortality if you're really faithful. Basically it's a religion meant for messed up people like you."

"And you too." Hidan smirked pocketing the books in his bag.

"Not staying?" Sakura enquired the whole village Hidan was the only friend she had, and it was Hidan's fault that she was they way she was.

"Your parents don't exactly want to fuck me." Hidan joked.

"So? You're not the type to care about other people."

Hidan glanced at her. "I guess not." He relented taking a seat on Sakura's bed.

"Great! I'll go get you some food!" Sakura chirped.

.o0o.o0o.

"My parents are stupid."

"I fucking told you so."

A now six year old Sakura pouted. "They don't want me to become a ninja."

"They're civvies, what the fuck did you expect?" Hidan indifferently said as Sakura threw a blunted kunai at a target. It hit right in the bullseye.

Hidan was considered a prodigy despite his violent tendencies. He recognized Sakura as a fellow prodigy too. To him, Sakura was a natural in the art of killing people, and could become a strong shinobi one day.

"I expected them to support me." Sakura grumbled throwing four kunai. Two were slightly off, but the other two still hit the bullseye. "But no! They want me to continue the Haruno business."

"I can kill them if you want. They can be my fucking first to Jashin-sama."

"No, you are not sacrificing my parents to that god of yours." Sakura scowled at him. "And why are you here anyways?" She asked.

"I wanted to show you something."

"What?"

"This fucking beauty." Hidan grinned unsealing a scroll.

There was a cloud of smoke before a three-bladed sycthe appeared.

"Oh my, it's…wow….can I touch it?" Sakura asked forgetting all about her worries.

.o0o.o0o.

"You know, you'd make a good follower. Jashin-sama needs more followers." Hidan idly commented as Sakura went through some Taijutsu moves he taught her.

"Eh?"

He could feel Sakura's dubious look.

"Hmm, if you join, maybe one day we can fucking go around murdering people for no reason."

"Hidan, I don't know if you noticed or not, but I have some morals."

"Fuck morals."

"Though I'm flattered at the compliment."

"It wasn't a fucking compliment." Hidan grumbled.

"Though why the sudden comment? You didn't mind me just being your assistant before. What changed?"

Hidan paused.

What changed indeed?

He didn't just thought Sakura should serve Jashin too. Then Sakura and him can become immortal. They can rule the world if they wanted to. Jashin would accept them despite how fucked up they were.

"Forget it, you don't have to answer me."

"I meant what I fucking said though."

Sakura smiled.

.o0o.o0o.

Sakura looked around her.

Dead bodies littered the streets and her neighbourhood was dyed in blood.

Everyone she knew was dead. Her parents, the old ladies who gave her candy, the librarian, the stray dog who she would often feed…. _everyone_.

She screamed in horror.

.o0o.o0o.

Hidan slung his weapon over his shoulder as he continued walking. His uniform was dyed red, and there was a scratch on his headband.

From this day on he would serve Jashin-sama, and only Jashin-sama.

No one else mattered.

(Except that little girl he left alive.)

.o0o.o0o.

The pain of losing everyone was unbearable, Sakura decided. Yet she enjoyed it. The pain numbed everything else and made her stomach ache with pleasure. Her eyes landed on a symbol she's read in various book.

"So this is Jashinism."

"It's beautiful…" She whispered taking in the scene of a massacre with a new perspective.

That day Sakura realized that the world was messed up. But it would be a crime for her not to enjoy it, right?

It wouldn't be until two days later that a team of Konoha-nin would happen to find her scaveging off of corpses.

.o0o.o0o.

 _ **Chapter End**_

.o0o.o0o.

 _ **Author's Note:** No I am not giving up on my other stories. I will update them eventually, PM me if you really want me to update a specific one considering I just write at random. And yes, I know I shouldn't be publishing anymore stories, but I had this one sitting in my laptop for ages. _

**_FAQ:_**

 **1\. How did you come up with this story?**

 _I just wondered what it would be like if Sakura and Hidan were childhood friends._

 **2\. Will you update often?**

 _I don't know. PM me if you really want an update._

 **3\. What's the pairing?**

 _Undecided. Sakura's fucked up in the head in this story, so who knows what her definition of love is._

 **4\. Do you plan on ever completing one story?**

 _Yes. I mean believe it or not, "Sayu Yagami" only has around fifteen chapters to go, "Death Goddess" has roughly twenty more to go, and I do have a few one-shots I still haven't published._


	2. Konoha

"We shouldn't be taking a detour." Izumo Kamizuki chided his best friend and partner, but despite his words he was going along with Kotetsu Hagane.

They were both proud Chunin of he Hidden Leaf village and supposed to be returning from a simple C-rank mission.

But Kotetsu had insisted on visiting an old friend at the town near the outskirts of Yugakura. Supposedly that town was famous for its hotsprings.

"C'mon, we can even go to the hotsprings there, they're the best after all." Kotetsu grinned at his best friend. "Live a little Izumo."

Before Izumo could reply an elderly woman approached them making them tense up.

"I couldn't help but overhear you youngsters talking about that town..."

Both Izumo and Kotetsu raised an eyebrow at the elderly. "That town?" Kotetsu repeated.

"Everyone in that town were slaughtered, their bodies still laying on the ground." The elderly revealed.

Kotetsu's eyes widened at the revelation, a whole town being slaughtered just like that? It sounded similiar to the Uchiha Massacre that had occured over a month ago.

Izumo's eyes narrowed. "Why weren't the bodies burried?" He suspiciously asked.

The elderly woman furrowed her eyebrows. "According to the youngsters who went to investigate, there was a ghost there.."

Kotetsu and Izumo shared a glance, the latter resisting the urge to scoff. Ghosts didn't exist.

"Izumo..." Kotetsu mutterer.

Izumo nodded before flashing the elderly a smile. "Thank you for informing us, we'll take care of the ghost." Going back to Konoha would have to wait.

Before the surprised elderly could answer, the two were gone, the only sign they were ever there being the leaves scattering around.

.o0o.o0o.

Izumo looked around the town, an expressionless look on his face as he took in the corpses.

There were bodies laying everywhere, all sporting different types of wounds.

A body was missing its lower half. Another missing its upper half. A few were missing their heads. Stab wounds and slashes pointed out the usage of a bladed weapon.

There was blood practically everywhere and the scent made him lose whatever appetite he had. Crows were busy eating the corpses.

Kotetsu's small gas made his attention focus on a head laying on the ground, a head belonging to a kid who couldn't be more than four, her face shocked in horror.

Izumo raised his hand to his mouth feeling himself about to puke.

"Who would do such a thing?" Kotetsu muttered.

Izumo swallowed down the puke. He had seen his fair share of stuff, but this was new to him.

"Shoo!" A shout echoed through the too silent village making the crows fly away.

Kotetsu and Izumo shared a look before cautiously approaching the direction the voice came from.

Both grabbed a few kunai, ready to throw at the first sign of danger.

They found a little girl sitting on top of a body while eating some riceball.

"A little girl?" Kotetsu muttered lowering his kunai.

Despite how lowered his voice was, the girl twitched and turned to look at them. The apathetic look she had managed to both concern them and make them wary.

"Konoha-nin..." They heard her mutter in surprise.

They both shared a look again, not really knowing what to do with her or what to say.

The kid wasn't normal after all, what sort of kid could just eat surrounded by corpses?

"There's no one here, so you can go back to your village." The girl spoke.

Kotetsu stepped towards the girl noting how she in turn stared at him with curious eyes.

"Did you live here?" He gently asked taking a stop in front of the girl.

She nodded at him, not showing any emotion.

Kotetsu noticed Izumo standing next to him out of the corner of his eyes.

"What happened here?" Izumo asked.

The girl blinked at them. "A massacre."

Alarmed at her casual response Kotetsu crouched down to her height. "Aren't you..." He trailed off as the girl continued eating.

"What?" The girl asked.

"Sad? Afraid?" Izumo mumbled.

The girl shook her head no. "It's been days. Sadness and fear isn't affecting me anymore. Besides, you get used to it." She explained with a shrug.

The kid definitely wasn't normal or very traumatized.

"What's your name?"

"Hi-kun said I shouldn't talk to strangers, since they can turn out to be pedophiles." The girl stated.

"I'm Kotetsu and this is Izumo. There, we're not strangers anymore."

The girl hummed in thought. "Sakura, Sakura Haruno."

"Sakura-chan, what happened here?"

"I don't wanna talk about it."

Izumo sighed knowing they wouldn't really get anymore information out of Sakura.

Before they can say anything else Sakura stood up and dusted her bloody kimono. "Nap time." She mumbled walking away.

"What should we do now? We can't just leave her..." Kotetsu said as they looked at Sakura's retreating back.

"We take her to the village." Izumo quickly started walking to Sakura.

Kotetsu followed.

Despite them following her, Sakura didn't stop. She kept walking until she reached a white house. The only house not stained with blood.

"What do you two want?" Sakura finally asked.

"You can't stay here." Kotetsu pointed out.

Sakura blinked at him as if urging him to get to the point.

"How about we take you to Konoha? You can find a place to stay there." Izumo spoke up.

Sakura glanced at the house that was obviously hers before nodding. "What about the bodies?" She asked.

"We can handle it later." Izumo said.

"Then okay. But...I won't share my food, okay?" Sakura asked munching on another riceball.

Kotetsu managed a weak smile. "Deal."

.o0o.o0o.

"Are Leaf nin strong?" Sakura found herself asking while she rode on Kotetsu's back.

She could feel the ninja in question nodding.

"Why do you ask?" Izumo asked.

"Just wondering. I think I'll join the academy." Sakura mused before looking at Izumo. "Is that allowed?"

"Once everything's cleared up."

Nodding at the information Sakura yawned.

Nobody spoke.

Ten minutes later Kotetsu finally asked.

"Sakura-chan, your parents..."

"They're dead. Everyone is." Sakura cut him off.

"How can you be so indifferent to it?" Izumo asked.

Sakura paused, a surprise look on her face. The most emotion Izumo's seen her display.

"...I don't know, maybe I'm not normal." She finally answered turning to look in front of her.

.o0o.o0o.

"She's taking a bit too long going to the bathroom." Izumo noted as he started up a small fire.

The odd trio had decided to camp out before they continued on their way to Konoha.

"She's a girl, what did you expect? Besides this is probably her first time doing it in a forest." Kotetsu pointed out.

"Why didn't you go help her out then?"

Kotetsu shook his head quickly. "No way, she'll probably think I'm a pedophile."

"Does she even know what that means?" Izumo wondered.

"A pedophile is a person who is sexually attracted to children."

Both ninjas looked at Sakura as she stepped out from the woods, her hands behind her back.

"Guess she does know." Kotetsu mumbled, glad that he didn't offer his help.

"What are you hiding?" Izumo asked.

Sakura revealed a live rabbit which she held by its ears, ignoring the animal's attempt at clawing her.

"...why did you come with a rabbit?" Kotetsu decided to ask.

"Mister Rabbit is a pedophile and I figured we could eat him." Sakura answered tightening her grip on the animal. (She enjoyed it squirming in pain.)

"I thought you didn't share." Izumo spoke up as Sakura took a seat next to him.

"I don't. But I owe you two."

"Oh?" Kotetsu raised an eyebrow.

Sakura looked away as pink dusted her cheeks. "You two are helping me become a ninja, so I owe you two."

Needless to say both were surprised at her childlike behavior.

'Maybe it was trauma that got her acting so odd.' Kotetsu thought.

That night Sakura couldn't sleep.

.o0o.o0o.

Sakura perked up as Konoha's gates finally came in her view after days of traveling with Izumo and Kotetsu.

Amused at her awed look, the two ninjas greeted Genma who was taking over their jobs as the gate keepers.

He grinned at them. "Finally, now I can get off of guard duty."

Izumo sighed. "For the last time, this job is very important to the village. You should be honored."

Genma noticed Sakura on Kotetsu's back and raised an eyebrow.

"Hello." Sakura blandly greeted noticing his stare.

"Hi..."

"We'll talk later." Izumo promised as they sped off to the Hokage's office.

They figured Sakura could get a tour after everything's been cleared up.


	3. Residence

Curiosity;

A strong desire to know or learn something.

That's what Sakura Haruno, recently turned orphaned, felt as she looked around the Hokage's office.

Questions surfed around her mind.

Why did the Hokage need his own office? Wouldn't it be easier for someone to assissante him like that? Why was the Hokage so old?

These questions were merely an idle way for her to kill time as she tuned out Kotetsu and Izumo's voices.

Her eyes trailed to the window. Konoha was... _lively_. If she tried hard, she could imagine that this had been her home all along. It wouldn't be the same, but she could fool herself. The mark of a great shinobi was the ability to fool others and themselves according to Hidan after all.

As much as she could fool herself, things would never be the same without Hidan, would it?

Feeling dejected Sakura turned her attention to the Hokage.

He was _old_. Practically ancient if she were to use Hidan's decent vocabulary. Sakura really wondered why he was still Hokage. Did the old man love his job that much? Honestly, Sakura didn't see the appeal of sitting in an office and doing paperwork all day.

It sounded boring.

"Child."

Who would want to actually take the job? Perhaps maybe that's why he was still Hokage, because no one else wanted his job.

"Sakura, Hokage-sama has addressed you." Izumo coughed.

Sakura blinked up at the Hokage. "Hi-kun said I'm not supposed to talk to strangers, especially not old people. Hi-kun said they might turn out to be old perverted geezers."

The rosette was completely oblivious to the disbelieving looks she was receiving from Kotetsu and Izumo.

"Did she just...?" Izumo trailed off.

"Yes.."

Hiruzen didn't immediately answer. Not because of Sakura's words, but rather because of her emerald eyes. They were blank. Without any feeling. _Apathetic._ As if she didn't even realize she was alive.

"We're so sorry about her Hokage-sama!" Izumo immediately exclaimed.

Yet, Hiruzen didn't break eye contact with the girl. "It's alright. Tell me Haruno-kun, would you like to stay in the village?"

"I have nowhere else to go either way." Sakura mumbled with a shrug. "And I was hoping to join the academy." She added.

Hiruzen thoughtfully nodded. "You will need to go through some tests for security purposes, but I'm sure you'll pass them with flying color. Also, you'll be staying with Izumo and Kotetsu." Finally, he broke eye contact in order to grab his pipe. "Agreed?"

Sakura nodded. "Understood."

"EH?!" Kotetsu yelled in surprise. He couldn't possibly take care of a kid, he'd kill her by the end of the day!

"Hokage-sama, we can't possibly-"

"Thank you for allowing me citizenship." Sakura cut Izumo off with a bow. "I am indebted to you."

Izumo paused to look at Sakura before looking at the Hokage. He noticed the calculative glint in the old man's eyes and sighed in defeat. "Kotetsu, take her to our place."

"What? Have you gone nuts? We can't possibly take care of a kid!"

Izumo gave Kotetsu the look. The look that compelled people to shut up and be mature.

"Sakura, let's go." Kotetsu dejectedly said as he motioned Sakura to follow him.

Sakura didn't immediately follow. She glanced between the Hokage and Izumo. "See you later Izumo-san."

Izumo nodded, feeling a bit put off as Sakura walked away with Kotetsu.

Sakura just had the strange ability to make him put up his guard even when he doesn't have to.

Izumo looked at the Hokage.

"Sir?" He asked gaining the Third's attention.

"Keep an eye on her."

"Sir, I will. But, may I ask why? I mean she's just a kid. Odd, but still just a child." Izumo had never been one to question orders, but then again he's never been ordered to house an orphan.

"I'm just curious. What makes her special enough to be left alive when her whole town was massacred in cold blood?"

.o0o.o0o.

Kotetsu wasn't panicking.

He didn't lose track of Sakura while talking to Hayate. And he wasn't currently running around the building like a headless chicken looking for the rosette. He was just calmly speed walking while taking in the view.

Sakura on the other hand was slightly confused.

She had been dutifully following Kotetsu, when suddenly out of nowhere a woman had grabbed her wrist and dragged her away while mumbling about the academy.

Sakura tried gaining Kotetsu's attention, but the man was too busy talking to his friend to notice her dilemma.

"Kids shouldn't wander when heading to the academy." The lady scolded her stopping in front of a door.

Sakura had a miniscule frown. She wasn't wandering. But, manners dictated she stay quiet near angry adults.

"Go on, go inside. I have to go back to work."

Before Sakura could correct the woman, because even manners couldn't help her get through to the woman, she was ushered into a half empty classroom.

The door closed behind her.

Sakura sighed in defeat before glancing around the class. Of course, everyone's eyes just had to be on her. She wasn't surprised, in fact she was used to people staring at her because of her pink hair. The embarrassment she felt when people would whisper about it only made her flush in pleasure.

"Who are you?" A brown haired boy asked her. He had weird red paint on his cheeks.

"Why are you wearing make-up?" Sakura curiously asked.

The majority of the class started laughing before going back to what they were doing before she had entered while the boy glared at her. A puppy appeared out of nowhere and barked at her too.

"Why do you have a dog? Is that even allowed?" Sakura continued asking as she walked towards the boy.

She stopped in front of the dog. "Does it bite?" She asked.

"He has a name!" The boy snapped at her.

"What's his name?"

"Akamaru."

"Akamaru? But he's white. Shouldn't he have been called Shiromaru?"

Before the boy could answer Akamaru barked in protest.

"Sorry." Sakura blandly apologized not really meaning it. "A name's just a name after all." She shrugged.

"Who are you anyways?" The boy asked crossing his arms.

"Hi-kun said I shouldn't talk to strangers. They might turn out to be perverts." Sakura mumbled in reply.

"Why you-"

"SAKURA-CHAN, WHERE ARE YOU?!" A panicked voice yelled.

Sakura blinked. "I have to go now."

The boy frowned at her as she walked away. "Sakura, huh? What a weird kid." Kiba grumbled turning back to Akamaru. "She's probably new."


	4. Dense

Sakura glanced around Izumo and Kotetsu's apartment while the two observed her.

She didn't really think much of the place, it was just like any other apartment. One living room, one bathroom, one kitchen and the only difference was that there were two bedrooms.

"So? You like it?" Kotetsu grinned at her.

Sakura blinked at Izumo. "I see you're in charge of cleaning." She noted.

"Hey!" Kotetsu sputtered in denial.

"Yeah, that's right. Kotetsu's a slob."

"Hey! Not you too!"

"Where will I sleep?" Sakura asked ignoring Kotetsu.

Feeling fed off by Izumo and Sakura, Kotetsu stalked off into the kitchen grumbling things about being lazy and not a slob.

"Ah..." Izumo thoughtfully trailed off. "I guess I'll have to move into Kotetsu's room so you can get mine." He sounded more resigned than anything else.

"...good luck."

"I can still hear you!"

Izumo solemnly nodded as he dodged a stray apple.

"Whatever, I'm not that bad."

Sakura tilted her head in confusion. "Is he delusional?"

Izumo snorted in amusement and patted Sakura's head. "Yes, he is. Now why don't you go take a shower? We'll need you to look decent for your meeting with Inoichi-san."

Sakura merely nodded in agreement, not bothering to ask who Inoichi was as she stalked off to the bathroom for a well deserved shower.

Izumo watched her go before turning to Kotetsu. They shared a contemplative look.

"She didn't seem homesick." Kotetsu was the first to say once Sakura was out of hearing range.

"She's adjusting so fast, it doesn't even seem normal."

"She isn't normal. Whatever happened in her hometown doesn't seem to affect her at all."

"Or maybe that's the result of what happened?"

"It all comes down to the mystery of what happened." Kotetsu sighed.

"We have our work-" Izumo was cut off as an apple hit him right in the eye. "What was that for?!" He yelled while rubbing the forming bruise.

"For implying I'm delusional."

* * *

"Good afternoon Sakura-chan, I'm Inoichi Yamanaka and I'll be asking you a few questions, if you don't mind."

Sakura stared at the politely smiling man for a moment.

"I have a feeling you'll ask me these questions even if I did mind." Sakura said.

"Izumo-kun was right, you really are a blunt one." Inoichi noted, not losing his polite smile. "But you are right, these questions will be asked anyways."

"Then go ahead." Sakura yawned getting comfortable in her chair.

"How old are you?"

"Six."

"Who were your parents?"

"Mebuki Haruno and Kizashi Haruno."

 _No hesitsnce or visible reaction to the casual mention of her parents_. Inoichi wrote on his notepad.

"Any other relatives?"

"None that I am aware of."

"Close friends?"

"Dead."

 _Appears to be purely apatehtic towards death._

"Do you know who killed them?"

"..."

 _Refusal to acknolwedge the identity of the killer. Possible connection to the killer._

"Did the killer try to kill you?"

"I wouldn't know. I was asleep."

Inoichi's eyes narrowed slightly as he wrote.

 _Slept through a massacre. Perhaps given sleeping pills without her knowledge? Will have to direct her to the Medical Corps after this. Result may bring up new clues of the massacre._

"How do you feel about their deaths?"

This time she paused, seeming to contemplate her answer.

"I'm not sure. I feel like I should be sad or angry, but I don't know. I guess it doesn't affect me."

 _Aware of the feelings she should be experiencing, but total detachment to them._

"Do you have nightmares?"

"No."

"Do you think it was wrong for the killer to do that?"

"Yes."

 _Morals seem in check despite detachment._

Little did Inoichi know, Sakura was referring to Hidan abandoning her.

* * *

"I want to be in his class." A pink haired girl pointed at Kiba.

Tsume grinned. "Oh, I didn't know you had an admirer Kiba."

Her son flushed in embarrassment. "I don't! And what are you doing here?" Kiba asked the girl completely ignoring Mizuki-sensei.

"Attending the academy. I figured it was time I officially start training." The girl blandly answered.

"Why do you want to be in my son's class anyways? You're a fan of his?" Tsume asked, slightly suspicious.

"I much prefer Shiromaru." The girl answered earning an amused snort from Tsume.

"His name is Akamaru." Kibra stressed out while Akamaru barked in agreement.

"Oh, my name's Sakura Haruno by the way. It's nice to meet you miss. Do you have a pet dog too?"

"You're new around here, aren't you Sakura?" Tsume deduced.

"Is it the pink hair?" Sakura wondered twirling a piece of her pink lock between her fingers. "But I saw a girl with purple hair, so that couldn't be it."

"Nah, your hair's fine. It's just your lack of knowledge. See, in the Inuzuka clan dogs aren't pet. They're ninken and our partners in both combat and outside of it."

"Ah." Realization dawned Sakura. "Pardon me for my lack of respect towards your clan, next time I will not be so ignorant." She determinedly said before walking away.

"Sakura-san!" Mizuki called after her.

"She's an odd pup, I like her." Tsume smiled.

"She kinda smells like dogs too." Kiba added.

"Not just any dogs, stray ones." Tsume patted Kiba's head. "Go on before you're late again."

* * *

"Please accept this as an apology gift for my disrespect." Sakura requested holding out a bag of special dog treats for ninken.

"Your bag seems stuffed, what do you have in there?" Tsume questioned as Kiba awkwardly took the apology gift.

"Books. I am determined to keep my promise in not repeating any disrecpect. Value for promise is an admirable trait to the Inuzuka clan according to these books."

"All those are on the Inuzuka clan?"

"Along with the other clans in Konohagakure. I am determined not to disrespect anyone else by my incompetence."

Tsume blinked at the formal tone the girl had before shaking her head in amusement. "That's good, don't push yourself though, okay?" She ruffled Sakura's head before glancing at her son.

"Be a gentleman and carry her bag for her."

"No way!"

The two then began arguing.

"May I pet Akamaru-san?" Sakura spoke up, an almost shy look on her features.

"Huh? Ask Akamaru, not me." Kiba managed to answer before resuming his argument with his mother.

"May I?" Sakura asked the white dog.

Akamaru seemed to contemplate the question for a moment before barking.

A rare smile lit up Sakura's features as she crouched down to pat the ninken.

"I had a puppy once." Sakura nostalgically said.

"Oh? What was his name?" Tsume asked casually holding her son in a choke hold.

"Teru."

"What happened to him?" Kiba curiously asked.

"Hi-kun killed him." Sakura recalled earning a surprised look from the two.

"...this person killed your dog?" Tsume repeated.

"Yes. It's okay though, Hi-kun got me a new one. Kero." Sakura smiled warmly.

"Where's Kero?" Kiba couldn't help but ask.

"Hi-kun killed him too."

* * *

"My back hurts..." Kiba pitifully moaned resting his head on the table.

"Hi-kun said that that's a sign of aging."

"It's all your damned fault! You and your stupid books!"

Sakura spared Kiba an uninterested glance. "Books are much smarter than you."

Kiba glared at her.

"Good morning class!"

"Who's that?" Sakura asked eyeing the Chunin who just entered.

"That's Iruka-sensei."

"Isn't that Mizuki guy supposed to teach us?"

"Mizuki-sensei deals with the practical part of being a ninja."

"That's an astute answer coming from you."

"Somehow I feel like that's an insult."

Sakura merely nuzzled Akamaru close to her cheek.

"Oi, make sure your crazy friend Hi-kun doesn't kill my ninken." Kiba lightly ordered.

Sakura paused.

"Hi-kun..." Sakura trailed off whatever she was going to say as she felt a pair of eyes on her.

"Sakura Haruno?"

Sakura nodded at Iruka. "Yes?"

"Would you like to introduce yourself?"

Suddenly most eyes were on her. Some curious, some searching and some...

"Why are the girls glaring at me?" Sakura quietly asked.

"Ignore them, I'll explain why later."

Iruka's coughed earned her attention again. "Well?" The teacher asked.

"I am Sakura Haruno." Sakura introduced herself.

"Any likes, dislikes, hobbies? Maybe dreams?"

Sakura paused thoughtfully.

"I like reading, Hi-kun and Hi-kun's stories. I dislike Hi-kun and Hi-kun's stupidity. My hobby...I don't have any anymore. I don't have a dream."

For some reason the girls seemed pleased at her answer.

"Basically all we've learned is that she likes reading." A blond haired boy summarized.

"Is this Hi-kun your boyfriend?" A blonde haired girl asked.

Sakura blinked, noting that the girl kinda looked like Inoichi. Then she mulled over the question. Hidan was a boy and her friend. So...

"Yes, he's my boyfriend."

The girls squealed before asking various questions at the same time.

Sakura could only blink at the sudden uproar deciding that Konoha girls were weird.


	5. Interlude 1: Hidan's Color

Sakura was four.

In a normal world, she'd be a happy little girl, with no worries. She'd have two doting parents. She'd play outside all day with her peers. She'd be an innocent child who sees the world through a rose tinted lens.

The world Sakura lived in was anything but normal.

She lived in a world where orphans were lonely, where Tailed Beasts were sealed into little kids, where kids partake in war and actively learned to kill people. How can a world like that be considered _normal_?

Yet, to Sakura and countless other people, this was the norm. The world was meant to be ruthless. To be imperfect.

Even Yugakure, a village which was supposed to convert into a peaceful place, was imperfect. Only the village wasn't blunt about it. Yugakure was more of a subtle kind of imperfect. Instead of running around killing people or supporting child killers, the villagers walked around carrying fake smiles and hiding their _real_ selves behind faux politeness.

Sakura didn't need to see them drop their masks. She could just _feel_ how nasty the people around her was. They all had a dirty lime green color to them, a color which Sakura associates with the word _insincere_ , which to her basically meant _fake_. She's always been able to see these colors, ever since she could remember. And everyone around her had a varierity of green, which meant different things depending on the shade, but most of the time it was lime green.

Even her own parents were surrounded in green.

Her father, Kizashi Haruno, had a dark green color. Pretty to look at, but enough to tell Sakura that her father wasn't a saint. Dark green meant greed after all. Which explained why her father was a workaholic obsessed with money.

Her mother, Mebuki Haruno, had a fiery red color. Beautiful, but it told her that her mother was constantly feeling lustful. Fiery red meant lust. And her mother had a habit of inviting strange men over when her father was gone, not that Mebuki made it hard to notice. (Sakura wasn't sure if her father knew or not, but she definitely didn't want to be part of her mother's affairs.)

Sakura herself had no color.

She never thought much about it. She waved it off as her not being able to see her own color since she could feel other people's. A price for her strange ability. Based on her personality, she found that maybe she was green too. She did act cheerful around people. Yet, at the same time she didn't think it was all an act. She did genuinely want to be cheerful, but she just wasn't. She wasn't _capable_ to be _genuinely_ cheerful.

Because there would always be a cynical part of her she would try to hide. The part of her that simply couldn't bring herself to care about society or its standards. The part of her that couldn't feel any empathy to other people and their feelings. The part of her that would lie straight through her teeth to get what she wants. More importantly, the part of her that simply couldn't care about her own parents.

In all honesty, she knew she should feel guilty for the last part. But she _wasn't_ and that part she knew was wrong _wrong_ **wrong** wrong ** _wrong_** with society's standards. Yet she still couldn't bring herself to care.

Did that make her crazy?

In a normal world, she'd be crazy.

But...

The world wasn't exactly normal, was it?

* * *

0_0

* * *

Sakura gazed at the people in surrounding her as she walked through her village. She closed her eyes, the opened them again. Her vision morphed into different shades of green.

Colors, despite whether or not they meant something positive or negative, were _breathtaking_ to Sakura. The way all the green mixed, creating new shades, the way the colors simply flowed around the villagers, everything about it was beautiful in Sakura's opinion. Green was her favorite color after all, purely because it was the same color as her eyes.

The one feature about herself that she considered beautiful.

She sighed contently as she continued walking.

Lime green.

Light green.

Forest green.

Dark green.

White.

.

.

.

 _White?_

Sakura paused.

Never has she ever seen nor felt a white aura. She could feel her heart speeding up due to mixed emotions. Excitement, fear, and a sense of curiosity washed over her as her green eyes darted around trying to locate the mysterious person.

White felt like purity, Sakura immediately deduced.

She highly doubted that there could ever be something pure in the world she lived in. But, here she was, _feeling_ a pure aura.

She just had to find this person.

* * *

0_0

* * *

Sakura found the scene in front of her absolutely out of the norm.

Her eyes observed the back of a boy, who appeared a few years older than her, give or take maybe six? Maybe more. She wasn't sure due to the boy's grey hair. _Grey hair_ , she repeated in her head. Then again she wasn't one to judge considering she had pink hair.

Anyway.

The boy was arguing with an old man, apparently the old man was trying to lecture the boy about something.

"Shut up, you cocksucking geezer! You were the one too fucking blind to see that you were in _my_ fucking way!"

Sakura blinked at the boy's rather... _unfiltered_ mouth, yet she could feel herself flushing at the dirty words. They just sounded so scandilicious to her ears, yet she enjoyed hearing them. Aside from the (strange) pleasure she found in the boy's words, she was also impressed.

Usually, everyone around her was too fake to get into an argument. They would just pretend to be ashamed and apologize. This boy, however, was practically defying the norm. And that impressed her.

The old man gasped. "You, you, naughty brat!"

Sakura almost rolled her eyes at the comeback as the boy loudly scoffed.

"Fuck off." He said as he walked away.

Sakura stared at his back.

Her eyes drawn to the white aura surrounding the boy.

 _'How can he be pure?'_ She wondered.

But one thing was for certain. She was fascinated.

Without even thinking about it, her feet moved to follow the boy.

* * *

0_0

* * *

His name was Hidan.

He was an orphan from the Fire temple, before they kicked him out.

He lived by himself.

He was going to become a ninja soon.

He loved swearing.

He had _beautiful_ eyes.

He was becoming an unhealthy obsession.


	6. Orange

Sakura sat across from Ibiki Morino, the leader of the T&I, without blinking a bit.

"I'm only supposed to answer questions for my therapist..." Sakura commented without any bite.

"Like I care, listen up brat, I want to know exactly how come a scrawny punk like you managed to survive a madman's massacre." Ibiki ordered slamming his hands on the table between the two. "And I want to know _now_." He growled releasing a little Killer Intent.

"Your guess is as good as mine." Sakura shrugged. "But, maybe my memory might suddenly pop something up if..."

"If?" Ibiki pressed in a more passive tone which he used for prisoners who cooperated.

"If a kind soul was willing to pay for my, er, _needs_." Sakura had an almost amused air around her as she continued without prompt. "Kunai, shuriken, a custom made double sided scythe and well, maybe those fancy pricey training weights they sell at those shops."

"Done." Ibiki said without hesitation.

"Easy, I guess you could say that madman didn't want to sacrifice me to Jashin."

"Jashin?"

"A god."

Ibiki's eyes narrowed. "I want details." He allowed Sakura to grab his pen and clipboard from him, even letting the annoyed look he sent her slip.

"This," Sakura said drawing a symbol on the paper. "Is _Jashinism_ , a religion about shared suffering and chaos and destruction. Followers serve Jashin. It's simple. The madman sacrificed everyone to Jashin, except me. My guess is he just didn't feel like wasting his time on me or Jashin didn't want him to sacrifice me."

After staring at Sakura for five minutes Ibiki realized that Sakura really was as clueless as them about the massacre.

"And the madman? What do you plan to do about him?"

"Find him." Sakura said before leaving to go to the academy.

* * *

"Man, today was really boring." Kiba commented as he stretched out his arms. Akamaru barked in agreement to his best friend, before both turned their attention to an absent-minded Sakura.

It's been almost a week since Sakura Haruno had joined the Academy, her and Kiba becoming quick friends despite their differing personalities. Their friendship was largely thanks to Kiba's mother and Sakura's liking for Akamaru. Though neither Sakura nor Kiba would admit it, they both enjoyed spending time with the other. Just like Shikamaru and Choji, they had instantly _clicked_.

"Oi, you in there?" Kiba asked knocking on Sakura's forehead.

This seemed to have garnered Sakura's attention enough for her to glance at her. "Yes?" She politely asked causing Kiba to grimace at her politeness.

"We really need to get rid of that," He muttered to himself before shaking his head. "Class is over." He informed, and to add to his statement he motioned around the empty classroom. Every other student had practically ran after class was over and usually he would too, but he couldn't just leave Sakura. He was too worried that the girl would end up camping in the classroom or something.

"Kiba?"

"What?"

"Who is that?" The pinkette asked pointing at a figure through the window.

Kiba followed her curious gaze to see a blonde blue eyed boy sitting on a swing. "Oh, that's Naruto. He's a troublemaking goofball."

"He sounds just like you. Is he perhaps your long lost brother?" Sakura asked, an amused half-smile forming on her face.

Kiba blinked, surprised at the fact that Sakura had even smiled, before her words dawned upon him. "No way! Naruto's just a stupid loser and always tries to get other people's attention." Kiba harshly said, taking Sakura by surprise. "They say he's like that because he doesn't have any parents." He added without thinking.

The amused smile didn't leave Sakura's face for a bit. "I don't have any parents either." She idly noted glancing back at Naruto, not seeing how Kiba practically flinched in guilt. As if sensing her gaze, Naruto looked up, their eyes connecting for a moment that lasted a bit longer than Sakura was comfortable with before she stood up.

 _'He's orange.'_ Was the only thing she could think as Kiba and Akamaru followed after her. Every other kid she's seen so far had a beige aura, which she deduced would fade into another color once they've grown up. She's never seen a kid with an already colored aura.

"Sakura?"

Kotetsu and Izumo were yellow, a color that didn't seek any attention. A color that was positive, but not naive. In fact it was their color that made Sakura more agreeable to stay with them.

"Sakura?"

Sakura turned sharply to face Kiba, her head nearly bumping into his. "What?" She almost hissed, but instead kept up her neutral face. She didn't need her therapist to realize that under her calm demeanor lay a fiery temper that only a certain Jashinist knew of.

Kiba averted his eyes. "I.." He fidgeted.

"Am going to treat me to lunch?" Sakura filled in for him. She didn't need any apology considering she wasn't in the slightest hurt by what Kiba had said, she only said what she did so he could learn to _think_ before he opens his yap. Next time he might actually say something to piss her off.

"What? Uh, yeah, sure." Kiba easily agreed.

"There is this place I've been wanting to go to." Sakura mused, inwardly smirking.

Kiba readily nodded. "I'll pay with my allowance!" And those were the words that screwed him over.

"Yakiniku Q!" Sakura announced with a shit eating grin.

"Uh, Sakura? Isn't there anywhere else you'd like to go?" Kiba nervously gulped.

* * *

"Sakura-chan!" Inoichi called waving Sakura over.

The girl in question glanced at the man before promptly ignoring him and dragging her Inuzuka companion the other way.

"Sakura-chan~!" Inoichi whined stepping away from their table to get the child. (and her companion, by extension.)

Shikaku restrained himself from mumbling a troublesome under his breath as Inoichi seemed to have said something to convince Konoha's latest resident into joining them, apparently the orphan had garnered Inoichi's interest.

 _"She's the most fascinating patient I've had in awhile. I'm waiting for the okay to search through her head."_ The Nara head remembered Inoichi's words.

"Troublesome." His son didn't have the restraint.

Choza and his son chuckled at Shikamaru's expense.

"Not fond of her?" Shikaku gave his son a sardonic smile.

"I don't know her well enough to say." Shikamaru admitted before sighing. "It's Kiba that's troublesome."

"He's not that bad." Choji, ever the gentle one, said.

"Please, he's almost as bad as Naruto." Shikamaru grumbled just as Sakura, Inoichi, Kiba and Akamaru had arrived.

"I'm curious," Sakura spoke up earning their attention. "Why do you speak so negatively about _my_ friend Kiba and my classmate Naruto without even trying to have a decent conversation with them?" She asked sounding a little annoyed, but obviously only about the former. "Hi-kun says it's rude to judge someone you've never spoken to before, only after are you allowed to treat them like heathens if you see fit." She added without prompt.

"Sakura..." Kiba muttered, surprised that Sakura had admitted that they were friends and even went as far as to defend him.

Inoichi on the other hand was twitching to write Sakura's behavior down. He didn't remember her mentioning anything about having a friend and idly wondered how Sakura would react to being surrounded by her female peers. Would she befriend them like she had befriended Kiba? Or was there a special reason for Kiba managing to befriend her?

"You haven't tried talking to Naruto either." Shikamaru pointed out with a childish scowl.

Sakura gave him a sardonic smile, reminiscent to the one Hidan often gave someone before he cussed them out. "Well, you don't see me saying anything negative about him, do you?"

Shikamaru frowned, a gesture which told the ones around him that he didn't have a comeback. Shikaku chuckled, starting to get why Inoichi was so interested in his latest patient aside from the bleeding heart his friend possessed.

"Sakura, was it? Take a seat, we were just about to order." Shikaku said earning her attention.

"Hi-kun said I shouldn't talk to strangers, since they can turn out to be pedophiles." Sakura bluntly said making Choza and Shikamaru laugh at the Nara head's expense.

"Don't feel bad, she said the same thing to me when I met her." Inoichi quickly intervened giving Sakura a pat on her shoulder. "According to Kotetsu she said the same thing to the Hokage." That only served to make Choji and Shikamaru chuckle. "These are my friends Sakura. I assure you they're not questionable people."

"Hm, I still don't see why I should join you for a meal." Sakura said crossing her arms, she almost appeared hostile making Inoichi raise an eyebrow.

 _'She doesn't usually react this way to strangers.'_

"Especially not that dumbass." Sakura added nodding to Shikamaru.

Kiba snickered.

Realization dawned Inoichi. _'I see, it's because Shikamaru insulted Kiba, which means Sakura's protective of her friends.'_ It almost made Inoichi smile, and he knew that the Hokage would be pleased to hear that there's hope for Sakura yet.

"If I'm a dumbass, then what are you?" Shikamaru asked ignoring his father's reprimanding look for saying 'dumbass'

"Obviously, I'm a _smart_ ass." Sakura said in a matter of fact way as she glanced back to Inoichi. "I think I'll leave."

Seeing that Shikamaru, who was currently twitching, wouldn't apologize Inoichi quickly came up with another way. "I'll pay." And though his words didn't seem to affect Sakura in the slightest, they did make Kiba perk up and mutter about not having to pay.

"Sakura," Kiba started giving Sakura his best puppy dog eye look. "C'mon, it doesn't matter if that dumbass is there, _free_ food, Sakura, keep your eye on the price..."

The hostility Sakura showed seemed to have disappeared. "If you say so." She shrugged going back to her near emotionless self.

"Great!" Inoichi said ushering them to sit down.

Sakura sat in the middle of Shikamaru and Kiba. "I'll have one of everything." She said without even looking at the menu.

Inoichi wasn't worried. He already knew he would have to pay a lot for Choza and Choji already, so it didn't really bother him. "I'm curious, why did you defend Naruto earlier if you clearly don't care about him?" Shikaku suddenly asked.

Sakura merely shrugged. "He's...nice and warm." She vaguely said.

Curious, despite his concerns over encouraging Sakura to befriend Naruto, Choza asked: "Then why aren't you friends with him?"

"Because he's annoying, duh." Kiba commented, apparently still not learning his lesson.

Sakura seemed to contemplate whether or not to answer before sighing. "He doesn't have any friends. Which means he'll latch himself onto the first person who shows the least hostility towards him. I don't need someone treating me as an emotional crutch." She bluntly said.

"Don't you pity him?" Shikaku curiously asked.

"I'm indifferent to him. People treat him bad, sure, but how does that affect me? I have no obligation to help him." Sakura shrugged, not caring that Inoichi had written what she said down. "And why are you two ganging up on me when you don't encourage your own children to befriend the sad lonely kid?"

Her words, despite how blunt, did serve to make the adults speechless and Sakura knew she had hit something there. She did always have a silver tongue after all.

"Sad?" Choji asked in confusion. "Naruto's _always_ happy."

Sakura couldn't help herself, as much as she didn't give a damn about Naruto, stupidity greatly annoyed her, she scoffed. "It's a mask. What kind of person would be happy if they didn't have any friends or parents? If they had _no one_ who gave a damn about them?" Sakura harshly asked, with more emotion than she expected before finally realizing one thing.

 _Naruto was like Hidan, in a morbid way._

However, she pushed aside her realization as she peered at Choji's reaction. The chubby boy had the decency to flinch in guilt, along with Kiba and Shikamaru.

"Sakura...you're trembling." Inoichi quietly noted.

"I'm pissed. Honestly, I haven't known the kid for a week, and these idiots," She motioned to Shikamaru, Choji and Kiba. "Have known the kid _longer_ than I have and yet they're as _clueless_ as a virgin who hasn't been banged before!" Despite how crude her words sounded, they had managed to get across to the three.

"Dad, is what she saying the truth...?" Choji timidly asked his father.

Choza merely patted his son's head, but it was enough of a confirmation for him. "We've been jerks Shika..." He mumbled to a solemn Shikamaru.


	7. Academy Days

"Hi. Sumiko-sensei asked me to help you out during Kunoichi lessons since you're new."

Sakura blinked. "Who are you?" She blankly asked.

The girl in front of her frowned. "Ino Yamanaka, one of your classmates, remember?"

"Nope." Sakura casually admitted.

"Oh...well, now you know."

"..."

Ino awkwardly held out her hand. "I hope we can be friends Sakura-chan."

Sakura looked at the hand mulling over Rio's (?) request.

She brought her own hand up and then slapped the girl's hand. The sound echoed through the girls only class making everyone pause to look at the scene.

"No thanks."

"...huh?"

"Ask someone else to be your friend Rio-san." Sakura indifferently said brushing past Ino towards the classroom door.

Only to be blocked by a purple haired girl.

"What?" Sakura flatly asked. Kiba was waiting for her after all.

The girl smirked. "You're interesting."

Sakura blinked, about to just push the girl aside. She wasn't keen on playing friends with 'stupid fangirls' as Kiba called every girl in their class.

"For someone with an ugly forehead at least."

Sakura paused and looked into the girl's brown eyes. She concluded that the girl in front of her was bully and for a moment the brown eyes faded into purple.

 _"You have a fucking big forehead, you know? It's so fucking big."_

Sakura made her decision then and there.

"I'm Sakura." She nodded to the girl and lifted her hand up.

The girl slapped it. Hard.

Sakura almost made a pleased noise, it didn't hurt as much as when Hidan used to spar with her, but she's missed the sensation of being hurt emotionally and physically.

"I don't know where your filthy hands has been Megahead."

"..."

"I'm Ami. From now on you're my toy."

Out of the corner of her eyes Sakura saw that Ino was going to intervene.

"Alright." She said before the blonde girl could ruin things for her.

Ami sent a shocked Ino a smug smile before turning to look at an emotionless Sakura.

By "toy" Ami usually meant a new victim for her to bully. She's never seen any of her previous victims accepting their position before.

But Ami had a penchant for breaking toys.

She started off by simply yanking Sakura's hair.

"Does it hurt?" She asked.

"...no." Sakura flatly answered.

Ami huffed and pulled harder, feeling the hair almost being ripped out of the girl's scalp. "How about now?"

In response Sakura gave a pained yelp making Ami smirk.

"Who has pink hair anyways?" She taunted.

 _"It's so fucking weird. You're probably a bastard child, ain't you? You don't look like your parents at all. In fact you look fucking dumb. And those eyes of yours, they look like green shit."_

Sakura bit her lips, holding back the pleased sound.

Yes. She wanted Ami to make her hurt more and more.

 _(So she can remember more and more.)_

 _'Hidan...'_

One day she'll find him.

She'll make him hurt, because he likes it too.

She'll let him hurt her, because she likes it best when he hurts her.

She'll glue herself to his side forever.

As Ami pushed her down and made her fall down a dazed Sakura looked at the ceiling.

 _'I'll follow you Jashin, just like Hi-kun does.'_

"Stop, you're hurting her!" She distantly heard Rio yell.

"Hmph."

 _'Oh, and Purple Brat will be my first offering to you.'_

.o0o..o0o

"Did the teacher force you to stay yesterday?" Kiba asked.

"Nope."

"So you ditched me?"

Sakura didn't even pause in her motion of petting a sleeping Akamaru. "Yeah."

"Why?" Kiba looked slightly hurt.

"Because Ami was bullying her!" Ino piped in taking a stand next to them.

Sakura's eye twitched. She didn't really want Kiba knowing, but oh well.

"What?!" Kiba exploded in childish anger causing Akamaru to wake up.

"Don't worry. I told the teacher." Ino proudly said.

Sakura kicked her in the shin. "Oops, sorry Rio-san. I lost my footing because of yesterday's fall." She lied.

Ino smiled despite the pain, trying to come off as reassuring. "It's Ino."

However Sakura was no longer paying attention to her and instead turned back to a fuming Kiba. "Ami isn't unpleasant."

Kiba gave her a look.

"Well. She's rough, but I like that."

The innocent statement was followed with a shrug.

"So you made a new friend?" Kiba asked.

"In a manner of way." Sakura nodded.

"So you don't mind me being friends with Naruto?"

"Be my guest."

Kiba stood up. "See you at lunch then!" He waved with a grin as he took a seat next to Naruto who startled in surprise.

Sakura ushered Akamaru to go with Kiba just as Ami sat next to her.

"Hi Ugly."

"Good morning Ami."

Before Ami could say anything, probably insult her more and more, Iruka stepped in.

"Morning class!"

With a smile Ami stabbed Sakura's thigh with her pencil with enough force to make it sting, but not enough to pierce her flesh and alert Iruka to what was going on.

Sakura bit her lips as she wrote down notes that Ami would later rip into pieces in front of her and force her to eat.

Aside from that Sakura found out that Ami was, just as Kiba had said, a fangirl.

Just like every other girls she was pinning after Sasuke Uchiha.

.o0o.o0o.

Sakura didn't bother going into her fighting stance as she stood a few feet in front of Hinata Hyuga.

Iruka stood at the sides along with the rest of their classmates.

"You look weak." Sakura commented, loud enough for everyone to hear.

The girl flinched at her words.

Sakura liked the pleasant feeling she got from making the girl flinch.

"Meek too."

Another flinch.

"Sakura!" Iruka sharply said, not tolerating blatant bullying.

Sakura barely spared him a glance.

Iruka sighed before calling for the match to begin. Maybe Hinata would teach Sakura not to underestimate people.

"I doubt you'll even become a ninja."

Sakura raised an eyebrow in interest as an almost defying look appeared in Hinata's stance as the girl went into a fighting stance.

' _Hyuga_.' She absently noted finally recognizing the white eyes.

However Sakura made no move to charge first and absently reminded herself that she had to fight 'fair' or Iruka would declare the match over.

 _(No throwing dirt in her opponent's eyes, no using her nails, no grabbing hair. Nothing that could be considered a cheapshot.)_

Sakura briefly wondered if Konoha mistakes being a ninja to being a samurai because that would make perfect sense to her.

She ducked just as Hinata's palm was mere inches away from her face and elbowed Hinata's stomach.

"That was weak." She taunted as Hinata jumped away to create some distance.

This time it was Sakura who charged in with a flurry of well timed kicks and punches.

Hinata stuck to deflecting and dodging.

It was obvious that Sakura was pressuring Hinata to slip up which happened in a mere forty seconds.

"Pathetic!" Sakura hissed low enough for only Hinata to hear and tripped the girl.

She watched as Hinata started to fall down and rammed her heel into Hinata's back causing the girl to cry out in pain.

For a moment she saw herself laying down with a heel pressing against her back.

What did Hidan tell her again?

Oh right.

"Are you just going to give up? Just because this is training doesn't mean shit. If I was an enemy would you let me kill you without any fucking struggle? Are you that fucking weak?" She didn't bother to edit out the swear words as she pressed harder, just like Hidan had done to her.

Hinata bit her lips.

 _(She had bit her lips. "Weak." Hidan taunted and in response she twisted awkwardly and threw a rock at his eye before biting his leg.)_

"Enough! Sakura wins!"

Sakura walked off without another word ignoring how Iruka yelled at her to do a seal of friendship or whatever it's called.

However that was the start of the many beatdowns she would give the Hyuga heiress. And the many detentions she would get for doing so.

She found her sadistic release in Hinata and her masochistic release by Ami.

The only real difference?

' _Maybe I should let her use me as a punching bag one day?'_ Was her thoughts on Hinata.

 _ **'Fuck her.'**_ Was her thoughts on Ami.

It's a good thing almost no one knew how disturbed Sakura Haruno was.

.o0o.o0o.

"I'll become Hokage one day." Naruto found himself admitting to his new friends.

You heard him right.

His new friends.

Kiba, Sakura, Choji and Shikamau. He had gained those four as friends much to Iruka and the Sandaime-sama's shock. He could barely believe it himself.

But apparently it had something to do with Sakura-chan calling the other three idiots. Which she calls him too, but Naruto saw it as more of a term of endearment.

Kiba was definitely his best friend though. Simply because their personalities matched.

Sakura...ehh. He wasn't sure what to think considering the girl was very mean to her opponents during spars but was being bullied by Ami. She was also honest to a fault yet somehow thoughtful to her friends. He also didn't know anything about her.

Choji was a good enough friend. Nice, considerate and filled with compassion. Not to mention how the chubby kid could beat him in an eating contest.

Shikamaru was a lazy guy, but smart as Naruto found out by Shikamaru's briliant plans to escape from detention, which he and all of his friends had a penchant for getting.

"Hokage? Sounds interesting. How about a bet? I'll become Hokage before you do!" Kiba was the first to yell.

"One of you troublesome idiots as Hokage?" Shikamaru groaned. "Better than Sasuke at least..."

"Good luck." Choji smiled at them.

"Hmm, Orange-chan as Hokage? Sounds interesting." Sakura noted earning a pleased grin from Naruto.

"Oi, what about me?" Kiba asked.

"Focus on being the heir of your clan first." Sakura flatly said.


	8. One's Prey

_The first time Sakura ever wanted to truly kill someone was when she saw a blonde haired woman staring at Hidan. The woman was a rouge color, **lust** , it disgusted Sakura. Sakura almost snapped and threw her one of her training kunai at the woman, if she wasn't trying to maintain her childish persona she would have done so. _

_"Something wrong? You have a dumb expression on your face dumbass."_

 _Sakura scowled at Hidan, completely forgetting about her disgust for a moment. "Your face."_

 _She got a good smack on the head in response._

 _"Stupid forehead..." She heard Hidan grumble, no real bite in his words._

 _"Hey?"_

 _"What now?"_

 _"...that woman over there, she's lusting after you." Sakura's eyes narrowed, focusing on Hidan's face in order to discern his reaction to her words._

 _Hidan glanced at the woman before turning back to her with a disgusted look. "She's not even worthy of a one night fuck." He bluntly commented._

 _"The proper term is 'one night stand' Hidan-baka." Sakura corrected._

 _Why did she feel a sense of relief?_

Blinking out of the memory, Sakura focused on the meek girl standing in front of her.

"Is something wrong Hinata?" She found herself asking, despite not really caring much.

The girl seemed to pale. "N-nothing!" Hinata stuttered, closing her eyes. As if she had assumed Sakura would hit her.

Sakura arched an eyebrow, amused. While Sakura admitted to being a poor excuse of a human being, she had her own set of standards. Meaning, she would only indulge in her sadistic tendencies towards Hinata during their 'friendly' spars. Outside of their spars, Sakura would not lay a finger on the girl unless provoked.

Hinata peeked at her. "W-why didn't y-you hit me?"

Sakura tilted her head to the side, an almost mocking smile on her features. "Do you want me to hit you?" She asked, but in a tone that suggested she didn't want the meek girl to answer. "I'm not interested in hitting you unless we're sparring, where it's acceptable for me to do so despite the detention I get."

She was still a foreigner, so it wouldn't be good for her to unleash her sadistic tendencies. She didn't want to end up killed or something.

"T-then why d-do you let Ami b-bully you?"

"You're being quite bold." Sakura noted.

"..." Hinata seemed to shrink back.

 _'Good.'_ Sakura thought, a pleased smile on her features. "Ami's cute, so I let it slide."

"..oh."

"You're cute too." Sakura then said, earning a surprised look from Hinata. " _Very_ cute." She added, recalling Hinata's pained yelps from when they would spar and the wide-eyed look she would give her filled with fear.

Hinata shivered, knowing full well that Sakura's compliment wasn't innocent. The Hyuga heiress tensed when Sakura's pleased look morphed into an indifferent expression as the pink haired girl gave her a pat on her head.

"Besides, out of everyone in this stupid academy, you and Naruto are probably the only ones who can take a beating and _not_ give up. The struggle of a prey is the most pleasing part of a hunt."

Hinata's eyes widened.

"Oh, and I'm not stupid. I see the way you look at Naruto. So think of it as you taking a beating for him, okay?"

With those words Sakura walked off, leaving a stunned Hinata behind.

For once Sakura had an almost genuine smile.

Of course she noticed the way Hinata looked at Naruto. It was the same way she looked at Hidan after all. She and Hinata had something in common, they both admired a pair of knuckleheads.

* * *

O_O

* * *

Sakura twirled her double sided scythe on her right side before switching to her left side.

Then suddenly she swung it in a vertical motion, following it up with a roundhouse kick and finally flipping away. She continued her spar with an opponent that only she could see.

 _'Stronger.'_

She ducked down.

 _'Faster.'_

She threw her scythe towards the open air, quickly body flickering towards the other end to catch it.

The pink haired girl clicked her tongue in annoyance. Sure, the body flicker technique was useful, but the fact that she only knew that jutsu along with the Academy Three made her pissed.

She won't be able to get stronger if her skill set was so limited.

 _'Tsk, maybe I could ask the Idiot Duo for help...'_ Her thoughts wandered over to Izumo and Kotetsu.

Maybe they would even spar with her.

Hinata was an okay opponent, but the fact was she couldn't improve while fighting against someone who wasn't stronger than her. Izumo and Kotetsu on the other hand, were both stronger than her, something which she loathed to admit.

* * *

O-O

* * *

"What. The. _Fuck_. Are. You. Doing." Sakura slowly pronounced each word staring blankly at a brown haired boy. Judging by his distinct eyes, he was a Hyuga. Which confused her more, because the boy was picking on _her_ prey.

"S-Sakura-san..." Hinata whimpered in surprise. One moment Neji was insulting her, then the next Sakura was standing between her and her cousin, with the most calm expression on her features. But Hinata recognized an underlying furry behind the calm facade, thanks to their frequent sparring matches.

"It doesn't concern you." Neji coldly said.

Sakura smiled, a smile equally cold. "Hinata is mine. _Mine._ So it very much concerns me, _fucktard_."

Hinata flinched at the possessiveness in Sakura's tone. The Hyuga heiress knew from experience that having Sakura show some protectiveness towards you was _not_ a good thing. It meant that you had a psychopath, which Hinata classified Sakura as, interested in you. Though the Hyuga heiress was sure that Kiba, Ami and Naruto failed to notice. They only classified Sakura as odd after all.

"Nii-san, p-please back o-off..."

Neji had an almost smug expression, not realizing that Hinata wasn't scared for Sakura, rather she was scared for _him_.

But before either Hyuga could do anything, Sakura struck with her fist.

Having not expected that, the fist connected, sending Neji skidding back a bit. A bruise was forming on his cheek. "Very well, I see there's no peaceful way to end this."

Sakura gave him a cold smirk in response. No one messed with what was hers.

Hinata gulped, taking a few steps back. Hinata frequently sparred with Sakura, so she knew the girl was strong. But at the same time she knew Neji was stronger than Sakura. Yet, if there was one thing Hinata was sure about when it came to psychopaths was that they would _not_ back down. Seeing the sharp look in Sakura's emerald eyes, Hinata knew without a doubt that Sakura was not going to back down.

Not until she had Neji on the floor.

Which meant both would be severely injured by the time their match ends.

Making a hasty decision, Hinata turned back and ran to get help.

"Tsk, it seems I only have a few minutes to teach you a lesson."

What Hinata didn't know was that Sakura never fought seriously in their spars. Or rather, Sakura was banned from fighting seriously due to their 'rules' for when it came to sparring.

Which meant Sakura and Neji were equally matched.

* * *

O_o

* * *

"What the hell were you thinking?!"

Sakura didn't even flinch as she limped towards the couch and took a seat next to a more nonchalant Kotetsu.

Izumo, however wasn't deterred in the slightest, and continued to lecture her. "You attacked a clan kid! Not just any clan kid, you attacked Neji! The nephew of the Hyuga Clan Head!"

Sakura gingerly placed her hand on her nose, flinching slightly at the pain she received in return. She was consoled with the fact that Neji had to stay at the hospital, while she was allowed to go home. Though she would have to work harder. If an academy kid could beat her, she had no chance of ever becoming Hidan's partner in crime. Or worthy enough for Jashin.

"And Kotetsu!"

Kotetsu startled slightly, apparently he too was tuning out Izumo's rant. "What?"

"Don't you have anything to say to her? We're _both_ her guardians." Izumo hissed.

Kotestu nodded and turned to Sakura who merely arched an eyebrow at him. "No wonder you look like shit."

In response Sakura smirked, as if telling him that her opponent looked worse.

Kotetsu flickered her forehead.

Izumo gave a resigned sigh. "One day, I'll get a girlfriend and move out. Then you two can destroy the building with your insanity."

"Guys?" Sakura finally spoke up earning their attention. "Train me."

* * *

O_o

* * *

"So then, Kiba and Akamaru started gagging because it smelled awful."

"It's all your fault, you didn't warn us about the stink bomb."

"Arf!"

Sakura expertly ignored Naruto and Kiba's ramblings as Choji offered her some chips.

The girl gratefully took a few and then munched on them. Completely ignoring the fact that Naruto and Kiba started fighting.

"What happened to your nose?"

Sakura didn't even bother to look at the boy who was sitting next to Choji in front of her. Just like she didn't pay any mind to the boys fighting next to her. "I fell off a flight of stairs."

"Troublesome."

He obviously didn't believe her.

 _'Smart boy.'_

But he didn't pursue the manner any further.

 _'Wise boy.'_

Out of the corner of her eyes she saw the girl who was still trying to become her friend, Rio, talking to her prey. Sakura arched an eyebrow in interest, but she didn't want to stick her nose into it.

"...hey, did you hear what happened?"

"...Sasuke-kun..."

"...everyone he knew..."

"...poor Sasuke-kun..."

"...massacred..."

Sakura yawned, ignoring the gossiping going on around her.

She was sure it was nothing important.

* * *

o_O

* * *

 _ **Chapter End.**_

* * *

 _ **Author's Note:** To be honest, I'm getting kinda bored of writing Sakura's Academy Days. Simply because nothing really interesting happens. So I guess I'm just going to write one or two more before the main story kicks in._

 ** _Questions:_**

 ** _1\. What's happening with Hidan?_**

 ** _2\. How did Hiashi react to Neji getting his butt in a hospital?_**

 ** _3\. How did Neji react to getting beaten?_**


	9. Sakura's Graduation

Friend; a person whom one knows and with whom one has a bond of mutual affection, typically exclusive of sexual or family relations.

Sakura, before coming to Konoha years ago, didn't have any friends. Hidan didn't count, simply because he was Hidan.

Did the stupid mutt named Kiba count as a friend? Or the ramen obsessed fool? Or the lazy cloud loving smartass? Or the food loving idiot? Maybe the fate obsessed moron? Or the revenge obsessed Sasuke?

Did they count as her friends?

Sakura frowned, _'No. Being friends implies that I care, which I don't.'_ the twelve year old girl thought.

 **'But you do care, you're just pretending.'**

Ignoring the voice in her head, Sakura got out of the shower, ignoring the droplets falling from her as she wrapped a towel around herself in order to make her way to her room. Really, if it wasn't for Kotetsu and Izumo's insistence that she remained covered at all times, she would have simply made her way to her room in all her naked glory.

But no, the first time she had done that the two idiots taking care of her threw a hissy fit.

It was amusing, really.

 _'Just a few more days till graduation.'_

 **'And finally sacrificing that uncultured bitch to Jashin-sama.'**

Sakura didn't hold back the eerie smile that overtook her at the prospect of killing Ami as she put on her standard outfit.

A sleeveless red qipao dress that reached her upper thighs, with white trimmings and a white circular design on the back, tied with a black obi. She wore black shorts underneath the dress, black gloves, and grey elbow and knee protectors. To finish off the look, she wore a pair of black boots she had received from her "friends" for her birthday. Of course, she also had a pouch filled with ninja tools wrapped around her right thigh.

Her scythe, which she was told was impractical to just have on her back at all moment, was sealed away in a scroll. The scroll in question was simply tied to her hip. It was a self-made storage scroll, considering she wouldn't trust anyone with her precious scythe. So she had gotten basic Fuinjutsu lessons from Izumo, who surprisingly knew the basics. Aside from that, Sakura didn't pursue Fuinjutsu.

Not because she didn't want to, but because there was no one to teach her. It was apparently rare for someone to be skilled in Fuinjutsu.

It was a shame, really.

"Oi, she-devil! Stop admiring yourself in the mirror or you'll be late!" Kotetsu yelled.

Sakura didn't even blink. "I already am late!"

"Sakura-chan, just get to the academy." Izumo calmly said, walking past Sakura's door.

Sakura didn't need to be told twice.

She jumped out of her window, a habit which she had picked up from her two idiot guardians.

Outside her room, Izumo smiled.

"What are you smiling for?" Kotetsu asked his partner.

"Sakura-chan's come a long way, hasn't she?"

"The she-devil's gotten worse you mean," Kotetsu snorted, "Honestly, I don't even know how she managed to make more friends than enemies during her time in the academy."

"I don't mean that, idiot," Izumo sighed, "She's just more laidback and open now."

"She's still as crazy and creepy as ever in my opinion."

The two friends shared a chuckle.

Really, Sakura did change though.

Because four years ago, she didn't show a hint of the famous Will of Fire.

Now, however?

It was there, barely.

 _ **.o0o.o0o.**_

"Sakura-chan, you gotta help us!"

Sakura blinked as Naruto, Kiba, Akamaru, Shikamaru and Choji appeared in front of her. She raised an eyebrow, no longer affected by Naruto's orange color or irritated by the lack of color her other friends had.

"Troublesome," Shikamaru yawned as the others pointed towards their latest handy work.

Sakura looked at the Hokage monument, seeing that it had been vandalized.

The First Hokage, whom Sakura considered an idiot for the 'Will of Fire' ideal he had, had been re-made into a garden, basically. Flowers were painted all over his face and water was pouring from his nose.

The Second Hokage, whom Sakura would have loved to fight one day, had received a zombified make over. His face was green and covered in gory bruises.

The Third Hokage, who Sakura played with the idea of killing if she ever defected from the village (just to test her skills), had gone off quite lightly. He simply received a pedophile stash and nosebleed affect.

The Fourth Hokage, who Sakura really didn't have an opinion on, had clown make up on.

"Nice work, guys," Sakura said, but despite the praise her voice was as blank as ever.

Something which her friends had gotten used to already.

"How come you didn't immediately realize it?" Chouji asked, curiously.

"I don't care for the monument."

"Whatever, you gotta help us before Iruka-sensei finds us!" Kiba hastily said.

"NARUTO! KIBA! SHIKAMARU! CHOJI!"

Sakura contemplated leaving the idiots behind, but then sighed.

"First thing's first, we get rid of Iruka-sensei and the others chasing you guys." Sakura said, breaking off into a run.

"How?" Shikamaru asked, silently giving Sakura permission to let Sakura come up with a plan.

"What do men fear most?"

Shikamaru's eyes widened in realization, "A women's ire," he said with a victorious smirk, "Iruka-sensei and the others...I pity them."

The other three boys shared a confused look.

"I just hope you all have mastered Naruto's sexy jutsu."

Slowly, realization dawned the others.

Oh, they have. It was useful for sneaking in or blending in or distraction after all. Really, sometimes they all wondered _how_ Naruto could be the dead last. Sakura simply chalked it up as Naruto not being a traditional ninja in training.

Ten minutes later, Iruka and his friends were chased by a crowd of female civilians who were defending five innocent girls from perverted shinobi.

Hiruzen could only sigh at the amount of complaints he was going to receive.

 _ **.o0o.o0o.**_

The whole class quietened when the door suddenly went open.

They had expected to see Iruka dragging in the four troublemakers, but were all surprised to see the four walk in with smug expressions.

"Shikamaru? Chouji? What happened?" Ino asked, always wanting to know everything.

Before either could answer, Sakura walked in with a blank look.

"Oh, her." Ino sneered before walking away.

Sakura didn't even glance at anyone as she made her way to her spot.

Right next to Sasuke, her sparring/training partner. (And the person she learned the Fireball jutsu from, not that he was aware of it or anything. Honestly, copying a jutsu with the Sharingan was overrated compared to simply seeing it performed enough times to master it on your own.)

The two shared a nod.

They weren't really friends or anything per say, they simply benefited from each other. Just like they benefit from sparring with Neji too. Her association with Sasuke wasn't by any means as innocent as it was as her association with the Four Idiots.

"Neji told me to tell you he won't make it today. Team training."

Sakura sighed, "Ever since he's gotten in a team, it's been hard to schedule training." she mumbled more to herself than to Sasuke.

"Hn."

Why associate with Neji and Sasuke?

Easy.

They piqued her interest.

Because just like Naruto, they both had colors.

Neji's was the most complex shade of green she's ever seen, representing copious amounts of envy, hatred, and grief.

Sasuke's was grey, basically meaning revenge.

"Sa~ku~ra..."

Sakura turned around to look at Ami, who was giving her a sweet smile.

"Help me with my lipstick?"

Sakura's mouth twitched into a small smile.

That was Ami's code for: "It's time to beat you up, verbally and physically."

Ignoring the concerned frowns her friends sent her, Sakura eagerly followed Ami, knowing that it would probably be the last beating Ami ever gave her.

Four hours later, when she limped back into the classroom, everyone had been dismissed already.

"Shikamaru and the others were forced to clean up the mess they made," Ino informed her, shoving past her.

Sakura winced at the pain.

Really, sometimes being hurt wasn't as much fun as it used to be.

 **'Going soft now?'**

 _'No, it was more fun.'_

 _ **.o0o.o0o.**_

"To pass, you must perform the Clone Jutsu!"

Kiba, Shikamaru and Chouji all glanced at Naruto in concern.

 _'He's fucked.'_ Sakura thought, not bothering to even look at Naruto.

She, on the other hand, was going to pass with flying colors.

 _ **.o0o.o0o.**_

Tying her new forehead protector around her neck, Sakura stepped out of the academy. She had left the academy a bit late, since her sensei for the kunoichi classes wanted to have a word with her.

 _"You, are by far the worst student I've ever had."_

 _"..."_

 _"You can even learn a thing or two from Ino-chan and Hinata-chan."_

 _"..."_

 _"But, I suppose you did earn full marks on our last test."_

 _"..."_

 _"Jeez, stop giving me that creepy look. I guess I should have skipped talking to you."_

Apparently, she had spoken to her students who passed.

Honestly, Sakura didn't really care.

She was just annoyed that she'd be home late.

Sakura stopped walking.

 _'Naruto...'_

He looked pitiful, really. She knew he would fail, but damn, she was kind of hoping that Naruto would surprise her. He did have a habit of doing that after all. But maybe Neji was right.

 _"Once a failure, always a failure."_

Sakura felt cheated really.

To think she had placed high hopes in Naruto.

If Shikamaru and the others were here, they would comfort Naruto in their own way. But they couldn't, because they all were clan heirs, which meant they had to go celebrate their graduation.

Sakura, on the other hand?

Well, she simply walked away. Izumo was going to cook her favorite meal after all.

 **'Oh~? Maybe I was wrong. You're as cruel as always.'** The voice inside her head giggled.

Sakura shrugged.

When Hidan had walked away from her, she had gotten stronger. Naruto, she thought wouldn't need such harsh treatment to grow stronger, but apparently he did need it. It worked for her, because now she was ranked number one in her class, so it would work for Naruto too.

 _ **.o0o.o0o.**_

Ami muffled her sobbing with her pillow.

Sad thing about being an orphan? You had no parents to comfort you when you fail at something. Ami had just failed her graduating exam, all because she had gotten nervous.

The girl froze as someone knocked on her door.

Thinking it was her neighbors trying to comfort her or something, she stomped towards the door, ready to give a fake smile.

"Sakura?" She gasped.

"Oh hey, _failure_. I thought I'd stop by to show you my forehead protector."

Ami flinched before putting on a false bravado, "Well, you can leave." she moved to slam the door in Sakura's face, only for Sakura to stop her by placing her foot forward.

"Actually, I came to ask you something."

"What?" Ami sneered, wanting to get rid of the girl in front of her already.

"Have you ever heard of silencing seals?"

Ami raised an eyebrow.

Sakura grinned, causing Ami to step back, afraid of the disturbing grin Sakura had.

 _ **.o0o.o0o.**_

Hidan froze, various images of a girl he left behind popping into his head. (A girl that he hadn't forgotten, despite him never admitting it.)

 _"Hidan? That's a stupid name."_

 _"Hidan. How are you?"_

 _"Hidan! Don't scare me like that."_

 _"Hidan?! Why are you covered in blood?"_

 _"Hidan~! Train me~!"_

 _"Hidan, what's love?"_

 _"Hidan, I..."_

Taking in a deep breath, Hidan gripped his the pendant of his necklace. A pendant that looked just like Jashin's symbol. He closed his eyes, a new scene flashing in his head.

He saw a room covered in blood.

A girl with purple hair's mouth was opened in a silent scream.

A girl with pink hair stood in the middle of this _beautiful_ destruction, her body having taken a black and white design similar to his. She had a scythe in her hand and a satisfied smirk.

"Sakura..."

"Hidan?" Kakuzu asked, narrowing his eyes at his partner.

Hidan chuckled.

 _'Welcome to Jashinism, Sakura.'_

 ** _.o0o.o0o._**

 ** _Chapter End._**

 ** _.o0o.o0o._**

 ** _Author's Note:_** _Well, that came out of the left field, didn't it?_

 ** _Questions:_**

 ** _1\. What would happen if the Four Idiots discovered Sakura's true nature?_**

 ** _2\. Will Sakura get away with murdering Ami?_**


	10. Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura!

"CONGRATULATIONS SAKURA!"

Dodging a random diving kick from Kotetsu, the newly minted shinobi closed the door in the Chunin's face and locked it without pausing. Honestly, Kotetsu should have known that she wouldn't stay too slow to dodge his random attacks.

"Oh, you got your headband in purple...?" Izumo obviously wanted to voice it as a statement, but it ended up being a question.

Sakura nodded, her face as blank as ever as she opened her mouth to say: "Hmm. Purple's my favorite color."

Blinking, Izumo added that new piece of information in his head (since when was her favorite color purple? Did he miss something?) before pulling Sakura into a hug. Sakura didn't tense up like she used to. Instead, she simply returned the hug and closed her eyes.

 _'If these two idiots didn't notice anything, then others won't. Bye-bye forever Ami-chan~'_

"Oii, aren't you going to open the door?!" Kotetsu yelled, banging on the door as usual.

Releasing Sakura from his embrace, Izumo opened the door with an amused smile, "At this rate, Sakura will make Chunin in no time."

Kotetsu huffed, "I didn't use my full speed on her."

"Hey, hey," Sakura spoke up, becoming the focus of Kotetsu and Izumo once again, "Do I get a present for graduating? Everyone else got a present from _their_ family, so do I get one too? Huh?"

Kotetsu and Izumo shared a startled look.

Not because they didn't get Sakura gifts, in fact they had been so confident that she would pass that they got her gift like a month ago after bragging to their comrades, they were startled because Sakura had indirectly called them _her_ family.

"Tch, you're right...she really has changed," Kotetsu muttered under his breath, smiling at a suddenly flustered Sakura.

"Of course we got you gifts, Sakura." Izumo assured with a smile.

Nodding in agreement, Kotetsu dug into his pocket and produced a piece of paper.

Sakura stared blankly at it, "Are you too broke to afford a real gift?"

Izumo snickered at Kotetsu's gaping face.

"THIS COST ME A LOT!"

Sakura gave Kotetsu a pitying look, "They ripped you off, didn't they?"

Izumo couldn't hold his laughter in anymore at this point.

With a scowl, Kotetsu quickly pushed the paper onto Sakura, "Pour your chakra on to it, brat."

Sakura automatically did as instructed, blinking in mild surprise when the paper moistened up.

"Water, huh?" Izumo mused with a small smile, "I expected something like Fire."

Kotetsu smirked, "See? I knew it was going to end up being water."

Izumo gave his partner a deadpan look, "You just took a quiz and went with it."

Sakura threw a kunai in between the two, earning a yelp. "What does it mean?"

"Don't randomly throw!" Izumo scolded.

"It means your water-natured, brat. Izumo can help you with that."

"Can I spit water from my mouth?"

"Eventually."

"Cool."

Izumo bonked the two on their heads, "Are we going to just ignore the fact that she almost killed us?!"

"Tsk," Sakura grumbled rubbing her head, "You two are useful alive, not dead."

"Exactly, we pay rent for kami's sake," Kotetsu grumbled in agreement.

"One day, I'll kick you two out. I swear."

With a completely blank face, Sakura looked up at Izumo, "Where's my present?"

"Uh, well," Izumo shuffled back from the intense look he was receiving from Sakura, "I don't think it's a good idea to give it to you."

"Why not?"

"Just give it to her."

Izumo sighed, regretting his gift idea as he produced a scroll, "Just please don't kill him."

Sakura watched as Izumo summoned a black puppy with green eyes in front of her. She stared at the puppy as the puppy stared back at her.

"His name's Haru. I got him from Hana-san's ninken's litter."

Izumo and Kotetsu sweat dropped as he puppy yelped in fear and hid behind them.

Meanwhile, Sakura forcefully grabbed it by the scruff of his neck, a smile on her face as she walked away.

Blinking, the partners shared a surprised look.

"Did she just smile for more than five seconds?" Iuzmo asked, just to be sure he wasn't hallucinating.

"The world is gonna end..." Kotetsu mumbled.

* * *

When Sakura stepped into the Academy for team announcements, everyone was quiet for some reason. But she didn't care. Her eyes were on Naruto, who had a headband tied around his forehead.

Despite herself.

Or really, without thinking, a smile curled up on her face.

Maybe Naruto really wasn't a failure.

Maybe he was just a late bloomer, which makes sense considering he was probably the last person who got his headband. But Sakura was damned proud of him. Honestly, she was proud of Kiba, Choji and Shikamaru too. She was proud of all her idiots.

With a bounce to her step, she vaulted her way between Naruto and Kiba at their table, "Morning."

Startled, the two turned to her, well three if she included Akamaru who immediately jumped on her lap. She wasted no time in scratching the ninken's ears, inwardly wondering about kidnapping him to meet Haru.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto cheerily greeted, apparently not caring about their classmates quietness as he pointed to his headband, "Look!"

Sakura's gaze zeroed on the headband for a moment before she looked at Naruto and then Kiba.

"Congratulations," she smiled, ruffling both their heads.

The two flushed at her action.

"Hehehe, it was easy!" Kiba bragged, preening under Sakura's attention.

"Yeah!" Naruto agreed.

"Jeez, you two are so loud in the mornings..." Shikamaru groaned from in front of them, his head still on the desk.

He was probably taking a nap.

Choji chuckled from next to him, turning around to talk to his friends.

With a yawn, Shikamaru lifted his head from the desk and did the same.

"You three are acting the same as always."

In unison, Kiba, Naruto and Sakura tilted their heads to the side in confusion.

"Wait, didn't you guys hear?" Choji asked, surprised.

If possible, the trio seemed to radiate even more confusion.

"Troublesome," Shikamaru sighed, sharing a glance with Choji before looking at them with a serious expression, "Apparently, Ami went missing after she failed the exams. No one's seen or heard of her. And her apartment complex was burned down."

"They say it was her hair curler that set it on fire," Choji added.

"...oh," Naruto sobered up at the news.

The Four Idiots, as Sakura had dubbed them, all turned to look at their pink haired friend who had a bored look on her face as she continued petting Akamaru. None of them really blamed her lack of reaction, considering they all knew that Ami bullied Sakura.

Yes, even Naruto knew.

Before any of them could say anything, Iruka walked in looking tired. Not that they blamed him, considering he was helping the ones that were in charge of looking for Ami and probably didn't get enough sleep.

"Okay!"

Everyone looked at Iruka who managed to smile at them.

Sakura would shamelessly admit to zoning out until the team placements, which she only paid attention to when it came to her or her Four Idiots.

It turned out she was in a team with Sasuke and Naruto. Both scowled at each other when they heard that they would be in the same team. It seemed like neither minded Sakura, their problem was with each other.

Kiba, her best friend (according to him at least), was in the same team as a boy named Shino from the Aburame clan whom Sakura didn't really care to know much about during her academy days and Hinata Hyuga. This team placement in particular made Sakura smirk. Her smirked only widened when Hinata, her sweet precious little mouse, shivered in fear.

Shikamaru and Choji were placed in the same team, along with Rio. Or was it Kina? Sakura really couldn't recall the blonde girl's name. She annoyed her too much for her to even care enough to remember her name. Sakura simply referred to her as the leader of Sasuke's fangirls.

* * *

 _"Hah? No way. Ino's too troublesome for me to like her," Shikamaru yawned before looking at the classroom's clock. One hour left before detention ends and he could go home and get a scolding from his mother._

 _Next to him, Choji chuckled in agreement, "Ino's just too energetic I guess."_

 _"And she likes the Teme," Naruto added as he crossed his arms._

 _"Yeah, but you have to admit, she has a nice butt," Kiba wolf whistled, earning a few chuckles._

 _"So if you don't like Ino, who do you like Shika?" Naruto curiously asked, "Sakura-chan?" he suspiciously asked, looking intently at Shikamaru._

 _"What? No way. She's more troublesome than Ino," Shikamaru instantly denied, "Wait. You like her, don't you?"_

 _"What? You like my Sakura?" Kiba asked, surprised._

 _"No way, dattebayo!" Naruto denied with a blush before blinking, "Wait, your Sakura?!"_

 _"She's part of my pack," Kiba casually said. Well, it would have worked if his ears didn't turn red._

 _Shikamaru and Choji watched on in amusement as the two started arguing about who Sakura belongs to. Personally, they both thought that if Sakura wasn't sleeping in front of them, she would have kicked their butts for even suggesting she was an object to be earned._

 _"You think Sakura likes anyone?" Choji wondered._

 _"Nah, I don't think so."_

 _What they didn't know was that Sakura was just pretending to be asleep._

 _She heard every single thing they said._

 _More importantly, she was inclined to disagree. She did like people. In both platonic and romantic ways. Crushes, she had heard Rio and her lackeys call what she felt. But she didn't really think of it as a crush._

 _It was more than a crush._

 _What she felt for Naruto or Kiba could be considered a silly crush._

 _But what she felt for Hidan? It was pure unadulterated want._

"Mmm..."

"Sakura-chan!"

Sakura stirred, scrunching her nose up as she felt someone shaking her awake.

She refused to get up. She wanted to sleep more.

Before she could register any movement, she got kicked and fell on the floor.

"TEME WHY DID YOU KICK SAKURA-CHAN?!"

Groaning, Sakura sat up and sent Sasuke a scowl. She'd pay him back for that later. Hell, she'd get Neji to help her too. Neji's a sucker for her sometimes after all, she just had to bargain to "accidentally" break Hinata's fingers. Or something.

"Good," an unfamiliar voice said, earning Sakura's attention.

"How are you doing that?" Sakura wondered aloud, cutting the newcomer off.

"Doing what?" the masked man asked.

"Your hair. It's weird. How did you do that with it?" Sakura bluntly asked, ignoring the man's sky grey aura ( _loss_ , it meant loss.)

"My first impression? You're all idiots. Meet me-"

"You look suspicious, are you a pedophile?"

"Meet me on the roof in five minutes."

Sakura blinked as the masked man disappeared.

* * *

"Well, let's begin with introducing yourselves," the masked man started.

"No way," Sakura bluntly said, "Hi-kun said I shouldn't talk to strangers, they can turn out to be pedophiles."

Naruto laughed while Sasuke simply sighed, both used to Sakura's antics.

"...okay, then I'll start first. How about that?"

"Hmm," Sakura thought for a bit before nodding, "Yeah, go ahead Pedo-sensei."

The masked man's only visible eye twitched, "Alright. My name's Kakashi Hatake, I have no desire to tell you my likes and dislikes. As for dreams for the future...hmmm...I have a lot of hobbies."

 _'He didn't tell us anything important...'_ the classmates thought.

"What about you? The blonde one with the stupid look," Kakashi pointed to Naruto, "Introduce yourself."

"Hey!"

"C'mon we don't have all day. We're behind schedule as is."

 _'And whose fault do you think that is?'_ the trio wondered.

"Alright! My name's Naruto Uzumaki," Naruto began, planting a grin on his face, "What I like is ramen! I like instant and Ichiraku ramen. I like when Iruka pays for my ramen and I like eating ramen with my friends and Sakura-chan!"

 _'Does he mean he likes the girl or eating ramen with the girl?'_ Kakashi wondered, a bit confused.

"I dislike the three minutes you have to wait for the instant ramen to cook, I also dislike anyone that's mean to my friends and Teme."

 _'Again, confused,'_ Kakashi thought to himself.

"And my dream is to become Hokage and have everyone acknowledge me!"

Kakashi didn't react to Naruto's declaration, but inside he felt proud, _'He's grown in an interesting way.'_

"Hobbies...pranks I guess."

 _'You really are Kushina's son, Naruto.'_

Nodding, Kakashi turned to Sasuke. "You, the broody one, your turn."

Sakura and Naruto both snickered.

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I dislike like a lot of things and I don't like much-"

Kakashi blinked as the girl, Sakura, cut Sasuke off by bonking the Uchiha on his head.

"Do it again. Less brooding this time."

 _'So she doesn't have a crush on him like the other girls,'_ Kakashi thought, relieved.

"My name's Sasuke Uchiha," Sasuke gritted out, glaring at Sakura before turning back to Kakashi with an intense look. Was this what Sakura meant by less brooding? "I like training, fighting worthy foes like the Hyuuga and the idiot-magnet, and I also like tomatoes. I dislike idiots, liars and traitors. My dream? It's not a dream, because _it will happen_ , it's an _ambition_. My ambition is the resurrection of the Uchiha clan and...to _kill_ a certain man."

"Shit..." Naruto muttered inching a bit away from Sasuke, "I didn't think he'd hold a grudge for the tomato prank..."

 _'As I thought...'_ Kakashi sadly thought, _'And why is she nodding like a proud mother...?'_ Kakashi wondered, sweat dropping as Sakura patted Sasuke on the back in what was probably an 'I'm proud' gesture.

"See? It wasn't so hard, now was it? Tell you what, I'll even help you with your ambition, I have nothing else to do right now anyway."

"NO!" Naruto quickly yelled, earning their attention as he shook Sakura's shoulders, "You can't have Teme's babies, Sakura-chan!"

"Why not?" Sakura seriously asked, "Did you want to have Sasuke's babies?"

"EH?! NO WAY, DATTEBAYO!"

"It's not biologically possible, Pinkie," Kakashi pointed out, amused as both Naruto and Sasuke were now blushing in embarrassment.

"Maybe if I share Sasuke with Naruto, I can have both their babies? We can even build an Uzumaki Clan, if Naruto wants."

Kakashi watched as the boys got even redder if it was possible and restrained from telling Sakura that there already was an Uzumaki Clan. No need to rile the three up any further.

"Well, let's wrap things up. Introduce yourself, Pinkie."

Nodding, Sakura raised her hand up in a wave, "Yo. I'm Sakura, Sakura Haruno. Though, some people accidentally refers to me as Sakura Kamizuki. I like Hi-kun, idiots, broods, Hi-kun, Haru, my guardians, food, my religion, Hi-kun, Hinata-chan, training and did I mention Hi-kun?"

"You mentioned him a lot, Sakura-chan."

"Oh," Sakura's face remained bored as she continued: "I dislike perverts, pedophiles, people who insult my religion or things that belong to me, Hi-kun and Hi-kun's stupidity."

 _'Hi-kun. The mysterious person...not even Inoichi knows who this man, or woman, is...'_

"My dream is..." Sakura trailed off, "I guess it isn't a dream either. It's a reality. Something that _will_ happen," she clenched her fists as her two teammates leaned closer, curious to hear what she had to say, "I'm going to sleep with Hi-kun!"

 _'...you're only twelve, Sakura. You shouldn't be thinking of sleeping with anyone.'_ Kakashi couldn't help but sweat drop, _'It's probably just puberty. Yeah, just puberty messing with her.'_

* * *

 _ **Chapter End.**_

* * *

 _ **Author's note:**...what am I even doing with this story? _

**_Questions:_**

 ** _1\. As a series in general, what do you think of the Naruto franchise?_**

 ** _2\. Rearrange the team placement anyway you want from Team Kakashi, Team Asuma and Team Kurenai. Who would be in which team and why?_**


	11. The Bell Test

**Chapter Eleven:**

 **The Bell Test**

* * *

Sakura picked apart her breakfast, setting the vegetables to the side so she could savor the meat. Though it was unorthodox to have a breakfast that could pass off as lunch, Kotetsu was in charge of cooking today. And Kotetsu was the type of person that would eat steak all day, every day.

Not that Sakura was complaining.

Steak was delicious, and after she finishes eating her rice and vegetables, she would savor the meat.

"So, Sakura?" Izumo hesitantly asked, noise scrunched up in a bit of awed disgust as she was stuffing the rice in her mouth.

With a louder than necessary thud, the newly minted shinobi and Kotetsu placed down their bowls of rice.

 _'...why does Sakura take after your unsaviory habits...'_ Izumo sighed, shaking his head.

"What?" Sakura bluntly asked and promptly started shoving carrots in her mouth.

"We came back late yesterday, so I didn't get the chance to ask you about your team."

"Oh right!" Kotetsu grinned, as if forgetting that Sakura had been placed in a team. "Who are the unlucky bastards?" He cheerfully asked, only to grunt in pain less than three seconds later when Sakura kicked his leg.

Izumo wisely did not voice his agreement.

"Mmm?" Sakura hummed, seeming disinterested in them. She probably was, all things considered. "Fishcakes and Revenge-kun."

Kotetsu snorted, "Poor suckers have to endure your nicknames."

"Who is Fishcakes?" Izumo pressed on, intent on actually being a semi-good role model/brother-figure/guardian for Sakura by showing he cares.

Sakura's lips twitched upwards in fondness, before twitching back to its usual bored look. "He's Naruto, idiot sunshine."

Izumo and Kotetsu shared a bewildered look. Sure, they had stalked (silently observed, damn it!) Sakura enough to know that she hung out a lot with Naruto, Kiba, Shikamaru and Choji, but they still hadn't expected a fond reaction.

"Prank-loving idiot, right?" Kotetsu grinned, happy that his surrogate little sister was unknowingly taking up a Will of Fire mentality day by day.

Sakura nodded in agreement. "Future Hokage."

Izumo coughed on the food he had been eating, before raising a questioning eyebrow at Sakura. "You actually believe that brat will become Hokage?"

"I believe in him, dattebayo," Sakura smirked, knowing her 'dattebayo' would garner a reaction from her idiot guardians.

"Dattebayo?" Izumo repeated, paling as his eyes widened in fear.

Kotetsu clawed at his throat, having a piece of steak stuck in there. He eyed Sakura's glass of water before giving the girl a pleading look.

"Kami, no...not another orange-loving, Hokage-wannabe prankster..." Izumo muttered, unaware of his friend's struggle.

Hiding a snicker, Sakura gave Kotetsu her glass of water. He greedily downed the liquid, even as Izumo's muttering started becoming more and more louder.

"Never. Say. Dattebayo. Again." Izumo slowly ordered, giving Sakura the most serious look she's ever seen from him.

"Agreed!" Kotetsu voiced in, comically fearful.

"Anyway," Sakura didn't bother hiding the amusement in her tone. "My other teammate is Sasuke."

Both Kotetsu and Izumo shared a snicker.

"I should have known it was the Uchiha when you said Revenge-kun," Kotetsu shook his head, disappointed in himself.

"But that sure is a combo, huh? Three monsters in one team."

"Yeah, yeah," Kotetsu nodded in agreement. "We got our fight-loving Sakura, mischief-causing Uzumaki and revenge-seeking Uchiha. They all also have a trouble-magnet installed somewhere in their body."

Izumo made a humming noise. "I heard the Uzumaki can use shadow clones and the Uchiha can already use several fire jutsus. Of course, our Sakura is...well, Sakura."

Kotetsu whistled, impressed. "Definitely three monsters."

"I feel sorry for their sensei already. Speaking of which, who is your sensei?" Izumo curiously asked.

Sakura stared blankly at the expectant faces of her guardians.

 _'Yarashi? No...'_

Sakura didn't really care for her teacher's name, but she wasn't going to let Kotetsu and Izumo know she had forgotten her teacher's name. They would never let her live it down.

 _'Takeshi...? No, his name was lamer.'_

But what was his name again?

 _'Bakashi? Sounds right, but not completely...'_

"Sakura? Earth to Sakura?"

Sakura blinked, deciding to just go with whatever popped in her mind.

"...Pedo-sensei. My sensei is Pedo-sensei."

Both Izumo and Kotetsu sagely nodded.

"Yeah, I feel sorry for Pedo...sensei..." They trailed off, before pausing.

Sakura took this moment to discreetly throw Izumo's steak near Haru, who had been idly resting while they were eating.

"PEDO-SENSEI? I'M GONNA KILL THIS GUY!" Kotetsu roared in outrage.

"Kill?" Izumo repeating, shaking his head negative. "He won't be getting off that lightly."

As her two idiot guardians began plotting torture, murder and other fun stuff, Sakura's eyes landed on their clock.

 _'Ah, I'm late.'_

With that, she walked away.

After grabbing Kotetsu's steak of course.

* * *

 **:::**

* * *

"Sakura-chan, you're an hour late!" Naruto exclaimed the moment she walked up to them.

Sakura, ignoring her sunshine-personified friend, took a cursory glance around. She noticed that both her teammates seemed to be lacking sleep. The idiots were either probably too excited or worried to sleep.

Idiots.

"Pedo-sensei isn't here yet. What he doesn't know won't kill him."

"I guess you're right, dattebayo..." Naruto thoughtfully said. "But! It was so boring here with the Teme! He's the worst company ever. I'd take Shikamaru's lazy ass over Teme any day."

"As interesting as it is to hear about your love life, I think you should sleep."

Sasuke, who had thus been a quiet observant, glared at her.

"I don't like the lazy bastard or the teme!" Naruto loudly protested. "I like-"

"Sleep," Sakura ordered, punching Naruto in the head and knocking him out.

"You didn't have to knock the Dobe out, Haruno," Sasuke spoke up.

Sakura shrugged, "He wasn't going to sleep without throwing a speech about his nonexistent love life."

"Hn."

"You should sleep too."

Sasuke and Sakura stared at each other for a moment.

 _No._

 _Yes._

 _No._

 _I will knock you out._

 _...hn._

* * *

 **:::**

* * *

When Kakashi arrived, four hours later than he had told his students to come, he had expected to be yelled at. Maybe even see an empty clearing, which would have made his job easier.

However, the copy-nin did not expect to see the trio he had been assigned to all sprawled around.

"Well, this is certainly a twist," Kakashi uttered aloud, absently noting that Naruto seemed to have a bruise on his head.

Perhaps the blond and the Uchiha had gotten into a fight before going to sleep?

Possibly.

He peered at the trio again, their peaceful expressions making his face soften. Back when he was their age, he couldn't go carelessly sleeping around in even his own village without the fear of something happening.

Truly, Naruto's generation was blessed with the relatively peaceful times.

Naruto's snores blended well with Sasuke's deep breathing and Sakura's nearly inaudible soft snores. Despite how bright the sun was now shining, the shades of the tree near them did a perfect job in covering them. All in all, they looked outright adorable.

However, as cute as the three looked, Kakashi had to get down to business.

After absently brushing the bells in his pockets, he brought his hands up and weaved through a series of seals.

"Water Style: Waterball jutsu!"

A relatively small and harmless ball of water shot out off his mouth, hitting the trio. Kakashi automatically lifted his mask back in place even before the water jutsu had fully hit the three.

"I'M UP, I'M UP, DATTEBAYO!"

"HARUNO!"

"IT WASN'T ME, DAMN IT!"

Kakashi didn't bother hiding his amusement as he looked at the three who had all sat up and started arguing. Sasuke was accusing Sakura of being the one who had doused them in water while Naruto was accusing Sasuke of doing it.

"Dumbasses, we're all soaked, so it couldn't have been any of us," Sakura finally said, ending the argument.

"Looks like at least one of you have common sense," Kakashi sing-sang, alerting them of his presence.

Sakura graced him with a blank look. "Don't have that. Oh, and you're late."

"That I am," Kakashi agreed.

"YOU'RE LATE KAKASHI-SENSEI!" Naruto finally yelled, pointing an accusing finger at him.

"Sakura-chan and I already established that, Naruto."

"DON'T CALL SAKURA-CHAN SAKURA-CHAN."

"Possessive, much? Anyway, we've wasted enough time taking naps, haven't we? Time to get down to business."

His words seemed to garner their attention as each of them keenly eyed him.

Kakashi hid an approving smile. As stupid as it sounded, Kakashi had enough experience with careless brats that didn't even bother assessing him before battling against him while actually thinking they could win.

These three, while probably a bit cocky, did at least assess him for any weapon on person or objects.

Purposely slow, he drug out a timer from his pouch. "I'm going to set this for noon, kids," he cheerfully informed as he placed the item on one of the three stomps on the field.

"That's in less than three hours," Sakura remarked.

Ignoring the girl, Kakashi grabbed the two bells from his pockets and showed them to the three former academy students.

"Your task is to take these from me before the time's up. Those that don't get any bell by noon, don't get lunch. I'll also tie you to one of the stomps and eat my delicious premium-quality lunchbox in front of you."

On cue, Naruto and Sasuke's stomachs growled.

"The lunchbox won't be enough to fill my stomach," Sakura quietly noted with a sigh, despite still being relatively full from her breakfast.

"So that's why you told us not to eat..." Naruto commented, glaring at Kakashi.

Sakura blinked, turning to give Naruto a confused look. "He told us not to eat?" She asked as if it was the first time she was hearing about it.

"Weren't you paying attention to him yesterday, idiot?" Sasuke asked, scowling in annoyance.

Sakura shook her head no, "I was too busy thinking about sleeping with Hi-kun."

Naruto spluttered as Sasuke sighed in defeat.

"Okay! Time's ticking. So since there are only two bells, one of you will obviously be tied to the stump."

"I vote Sasuke."

"I second that."

Sasuke glared at his teammates.

Kakashi sighed, usually the teams he'd fail paid more attention to him. "Not only that," he spoke up to earn their attention. "But the one who fails to receive a bell will be send back to the Academy."

Finally, the three tensed, eyes wide as they took him seriously.

Kakashi gave them a close-eyed smile. "Any questions?"

Sakura raised her hand.

"Pinkie."

"Ne, ne, Kakashi?" Sakura innocently blinked at her sensei.

Kakashi's lone eye stared at her. "Yes?"

"If I kill you, will I get a promotion?"

Kakashi gave her a close eyed smile. "Rather ambitious, aren't you?"

"I'll take that as a yes," Sakura purred in delight, summoning her scythe with a gleeful smile.

Kakashi nodded, "Sakura here has the right idea. None of you will get the bells if you don't fight with the intent to kill me."

* * *

 _ **Chapter End.**_

* * *

 _ **Author's note:**...Sakura, stop being thirsty._

 ** _Questions:_**

 ** _1\. Your opinion on the bell test?_**

 ** _2\. How would you go about grabbing a bell if you had the same skill set as either canon!Sakura, Tenten or Ino?_**


End file.
